The After-Party
Darkness. Not a peep in the void. Then shapes, sounds, blurred and distorted, but growing into something more tangible. I feel my feet on the floor and my arms by my sides. My mouth is dry, and my breath comes to me in short gasps. As my hearing restores, I hear tasteful piano music, though I see no piano. I blink the haziness away and take a quick glance at my surroundings, realising with moderate shock that I’m in my household ballroom. I look down at myself. I’m wearing my finest, most expensive garments, a three-piece navy suit with silver cufflinks. My hands run back along my scalp to find my hair groomed into a stylish wave. I see other people dressed in similarly elegant attire, the men in suits and ties and the women in pretty dresses. They chat politely to one another, laughing and smiling, glasses of wine in their hands. An ornate chandelier dominates the room from above, as the fireplace burns a soft, thoughtful light through its crystal prisms. A cool, comfortable energy hangs in the air, dampening my uncertainty. The room is neither overcrowded and unpleasant, nor dull and lifeless, but instead a perfect balance between. Still somewhat dazed, I force my legs into action and take a short stroll. There seems to be no blatant tell for whatever the occasion may be, no birthday banners, nor Christmas tree or New Year countdown clock. Tables are arranged in lines besides the walls, covered in gift boxes and snack food, with vases of flowers arranged neatly on every table-top. Grand paintings adorn the walls, picturing utopian landscapes in various forms, ranging from futuristic mega-cities to humble grasslands. Moustached butlers amble between the crowds of people, carrying plates of cooked shrimp and freshly-baked pastries. The smell is intoxicatingly pleasant. My bewilderment steadily settles into curiosity, and I decide to start looking for answers. I approach a man standing alone near the corner of the ballroom, sipping a glass of champagne. He hums a merry tune to himself, but stops as I tap him on the shoulder. He turns towards me. Half of his face has been torn off, leaving nothing but a cavernous opening in its place, exposing his brain matter. I back away in disgust, pointing and stammering as the man gives me a puzzled expression and turns back around again. I flick my eyes from guest to guest in a panic. Their friendly demeanours had distracted me at first, but now I see the awful truth. Each is marred by some terrible deformity. A woman with icy-blue skin and a shock of ginger hair, looking as if she had drowned, chats courteously to a gentleman with blackened, burned skin. Another man with three bullet holes shot clean through his head talks to two twin brothers, one covered in boils and scabs, and the other with an opening melted straight through his chest. Nobody else seems to notice or care about their peers' malformations. As I continue to weave through the ballroom, my unwelcome reception becomes blindingly apparent. Groups of people hurriedly slide out of my way wherever I walk, shooting me dirty looks out of the corner of my eye. To every conversation I try to enter, I am only met with disdainful glances and raised eyebrows, as if I were the deformed one. Even the butlers, who are noticeably free of disfigurement, simply ignore me and regard my attendance as some sort of imperfection. I am startled once more by a mighty creak that echoes from the front door. The curtains burst open, and an aura of pure, white light beams into the room, so dazzling, I lift my arm to shield my eyes from the brightness. The guests smile and sigh contently, and one by one, they put down their refreshments and siphon through the doorway, disappearing as the light engulfs their bodies. The last guest slips through, and the door slams shut in my face as I approach it. I turn back towards the ballroom. The comfortable atmosphere has evaporated. Instead, the room now holds a far more sinister feel. The fire is extinguished, and the candlestick flames have been reduced to gusts of smoke, plunging the room into a darkened, greyish shadow. The chandelier has fallen into disrepair, and the paintings seem to warp and darken before my very eyes, twisting into all manner of strange shapes. The food is rotten and dusty, now being swarmed by flies. I pick up a glass of wine, only for it to spoil and turn to ashes in my hand. Childlike voices giggle and whisper all around me, slowly growing in volume. I come across a shattered mirror, only to watch my very body rot away in its dark reflection, my skin stretching over my bony frame, and the light draining from my eyes in an instant. My suit droops and turns to rags, and the hair rolls off my balding head in messy clumps. I collapse upon the floor in horror. Another voice, louder than the others, whispers in my ear. “You’ve been here too long,” It speaks, in a voice that could make the bravest wither in fear, “Better wake up now before you forget how to.” And as I open my mouth to scream, I awaken in a cold sweat upon my bedroom floor. Immediately, I run downstairs to the ballroom. It’s untouched, exactly as I had left it. There are no paintings on the walls, nor fire in the fireplace. There isn't a dust particle out of place. What I do notice from my bedroom window is dozens of footsteps leading away from the front door outside, imprinted in the snow. Category:Dreams/Sleep Category:Ghosts Category:Cornconic Category:Places